a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet of plastic material which feels like and has at least some of the properties of paper, such as oxygen transmission rate, water vapor transmission rate and coefficient of friction, a process of producing same, as well as a composition for use in producing said sheet material. More particularly, the invention is concerned with a product which somewhat behaves and feels like paper, advantageously replaces food wrapping paper sheet material, can be used to replace stitched multi-wall paper bags, and finally is less expensive than paper.
b) Description of Prior Art
It is well known that commercial sheet material is a product which has found a very large variety of uses. Presently, the most popular products of this kind are either made of paper or plastic, although some uses have been found for sheets made of metal, such as aluminum. Of course, paper sheets and plastic sheets have different properties, plastic sheets being normally more resistant and more slippery than paper, while paper is normally much less water and air impervious. For purposes of handling and printing thereon, paper sheets are normally much more attractive than plastic sheets.
It will therefore be realized that there is a need for a sheet material that combines some of the properties of both paper sheets and plastic sheets.
A product of this nature has found its way on the market under the trademark Papermatch.RTM., and which is manufactured by A. Schulman Inc. The manufacturer claims that this plastic resin can be used for manufacturing packaging applications, and for labels, envelopes, folders and a variety of other uses. However, except for the fact that it may contain some granular mineral compounded with a resin, to applicant's knowledge, there is no disclosure of a process of producing this material nor of its exact composition. There is therefore a need for a sheet material that feels like and has at least some of the specific properties of paper as well as for a process for producing the same.